Section 4
SEC. 4. Section five of Act Numbered Fourteen hundred and fifty, as amended by section nine of Act Numbered Two thousand and forty-one, is hereby further amended so as to read as follows: "SEC. 5. Qualifications and 'privileges.—No person shall be eligible to appointment as justice of the peace or auxiliary justice unless he shall be (1) at least twenty-three years of age; (2) a citizen of the Philippine Islands or of the United States; (3) of good moral character; and (4) admitted by the Supreme Court to practice law, or have passed the examination and be eligible under civil service rules for clerk of court, or an examination to be held once each two years or as often as may be necessary in each province before a board composed of the judge of the Court of First Instance, the provincial fiscal, and a practicing lawyer appointed by the judge, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the Attorney-General with the approval of the Secretary of Finance and Justice, and in such case the duration of the eligibility so acquired shall be for four years only from the date of such examination, if during said four years the person examined has not held the office of justice of the peace or auxiliary justice of the peace, and in case he has held either of such offices the period of eligibility will be four years from the date on which he ceased to hold such office: Provided, however, That this last-mentioned requisite shall not be required in ease the appointee is an officer of the United States Army or of the Philippine Government, or when there is no person having the necessary qualifications who is willing to accept the office. In this last-mentioned case the appointment shall continue until such time as a qualified person can be found who is willing to accept the office:'And provided further, That no person shall be appointed justice of the peace or auxiliary justice for the city of Manila or for any capital of a province organized under the Provincial Government Act who has not been admitted by the Supreme Court to practice law. The justice of the peace shall be present as often as the business of his court requires and at least once each business day at an appointed hour in his office or at the place where his court is held, but he may, during his incumbency, with the permission of the judge of First Instance of the district, pursue any other vocation or hold any other office or position, notwithstanding the provisions of Act Numbered One hundred and forty-eight. But no justice or auxiliary justice may act as the attorney for any party to a cause commenced in his court or elsewhere except by special permission of said judge in each case. The applicant for examination for justice shall pay an examination fee of five pesos, to be collected by the clerk of the Court of First Instance, and the lawyer appointed by the judge as a member of the board of examination shall be entitled to a compensation of twenty pesos for each day of actual services."